Deauville, France – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), working with the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) to cooperate with Russia on energy efficiency and smart grids, is supporting efforts to share experience and best practices among U.S. and Russian municipalities and utilities. This month, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in San Diego and Belgorod, Russia, building on an earlier exchange involving utilities and regulators in Texas and federal and utility officials in Kaluga, Russia.

WASHINGTON, DC - Today USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah charted the course forward to address the global food security challenge. As a keynote speaker at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium, Administrator Shah highlighted progress made over the past year through Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier this morning, USAID's Special Assistant to the Middle East, George Laudato, Former USAID Administrator, Peter McPherson, and Egypt Embassy Counselor, Motaz Zahran, joined more than 100 members of the diaspora and global health communities to launch USAID Egypt's Health and Population Legacy Report.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah and MIT economist Dr. Esther Duflo will lead USAID's 2011 development forum on May 23. Entitled Radically Rethinking Global Poverty, the forum will provide an opportunity for USAID staff and leading experts and practitioners from outside the Agency to discuss international development issues.

The U.S. Government and municipality of Petion-Ville inaugurated the Marche La Coupe market in Haiti today to increase merchant safety and boost local commerce. The new facility will benefit the community by providing a hub for more than 400 local vendors to sell produce and other goods.

Carey N. Gordon was sworn in yesterday as the first United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Representative to the Kyrgyz Republic. The oath was administered by USAID Assistant Administrator for the Asia Bureau, Nisha Desai Biswal.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On May 24th, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah will deliver keynote remarks during a full-day symposium on global agriculture and food security organized by the Global Agricultural Development Initiative of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Dr. Shah's speech, "The True Yields of Food Security" will address the first year of progress of the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, and chart the course forward by announcing new partnerships and defining priorities.

Frederic "Rick" Scott was recently sworn in as the new U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director to Timor-Leste. Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Administrator for USAID's Asia Bureau, administered the oath of office at the swearing-in ceremony.

SAN FRANCISCO - USAID Chief Innovation Officer Maura O'Neill will be available for media interviews following her keynote address at the World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting in San Francisco on May 18, 2011.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced they will launch a second African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) in the fourth quarter of 2011. The ADM encourages sustainable economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African Diaspora entrepreneurs with innovating and high-impact ideas for start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Results released today from the HPTN 052 study confirmed that effective use of oral antiretrovirals by people living with HIV can significantly reduce—in this case by up to 96 percent—the risk of transmission to an uninfected partner. The HPTN 052 study is a large-scale clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

"Madam Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, fellow delegates, it is an honor to address this important conference. I want to thank our Turkish hosts for their hospitality and hard work in preparing this week's discussions. We need look no further than our hosts to see how, in a few short decades, a nation's far-sighted policies have created one of the most dynamic economies in the world, now with a seat at the G20 group of nations.

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and the International Fertilizer Development Center, today signed a communiqué declaring "to support the Government of Southern Sudan in its efforts to transform farms into businesses." Most southern Sudanese rely on agriculture for their livelihood. The vast majority are subsistence farmers.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah is participating in the 21st World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa on May 4-6. As a co-chair of the meeting, Administrator Shah will directly shape the agenda as leaders deliberate on the theme of From Vision to Action, Africa's Next Chapter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Partnership for Public Service announced that a joint, five person team from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) known as the "LAUNCH Team" has been chosen as a finalist for the 2011 Science and Environment Service to America Medal, also known as the "Sammies."

Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced today the members of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA). ACVFA promotes a vibrant exchange of ideas between USAID and the non-governmental sector, and offers substantive input into the Agency's work.

May 3rd marks World Press Freedom Day and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been supporting the development of independent media for more than twenty years. A free and independent media has the power to elevate citizen concerns, hold governments accountable, break down stereotypes, give voice to dissenting views, challenge the status quo and speak truth to power.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a new partnership, the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA), that will harness the power of mobile technology to deliver vital health information to new and expectant mothers.